Watanabe Ken

Date of Birth

21 October 1969

Place of Birth

Niigata

Watanabe Ken was brought up in Niigata, but in 1978 he came to Tokyo. Four years later he became a member of a dramatic company. Soon after he joined, he got the leading part of "Shimoyamannenncho monogatari" through audition. After that he played a lot of big roles for the dramatic company.

He first appeared on a TV drama in 1982. After that he appeared on many TV programs and movies one after another. In 1987, he appeared on NHK samurai drama "Dokugannryu Masanune" which was a year-long serial drama on NHK. The drama got the best rating 39.8% among NHK samurai dramas in the past. His performance attracted a lot of women, and he won the popularity.

When he was shooting the film "Ten to Chi to"directed by Kadokawa Haruki on August in 1989 in Canada, he was found to have leukemia at the hospital. He had to be hospitalized at once and quit his leading part in the film .

On January 1991, he came out of the hospital for a while , and began appearing on talking programs and TV dramas. In addition he appeared on the movie " Bakumatsu jyunjyouden" in April 1991. In August 1994, he went into the hospital again with a relapse. In 1995, he recovered from his illness and began appearing again on TV dramas.